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Car-motorbike accidents kill two during holidays

Date Posted: 2006-05-13

Crowded roads and impatient drivers during the Golden Week holiday period resulted in two traffic fatalities.

Both involved drivers on motorbikes.

An incident at Onna Village’s Tancha area involved two men on a motorbike headed to Nago City. The 1400cc cycle tried to pass a mini-car preparing to make a left turn on Highway 58, but misjudged the speed and crashed into the left side of the vehicle.

YoshimiTokumine flew over the bike and crashed onto the roadway. The 19-year-old student was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital. Authorities say she was dead of cardiac arrest even before the ambulance arrived on the scene.

The motorcycle driver, a 25-year-old male, survived the crash. Medical officials say he suffered serious back injuries, but is hospitalized in stable condition.

A motorcycle traveling through Tomishiro City’s Senaga area lost control and crashed near Senaga Island Intersection last Thursday. Police say the driver, Kanama Arakaki, failed to navigate a turn and crashed. The 25-year-old office worker insured his chest and back badly, but appeared to survive the crash. He answered police questions at the scene, telling them “I think my back tire slipped and I crashed into the guard rail. I’m okay.”

Several hours later his condition worsened as blood filled his lungs. He died in a hospital.

An accident involving a police car traveling with red lights and siren going was involved in a collision in the Miyazato area of Nago City Saturday. Three family members were in a mini-car traveling on Highway 58 in the city, apparently not paying attention to the police car.

Police say the 31-year-old driver crashed his car into the side of the police car. The man suffered back sprains, while his wife insured both legs. Their eight-year-old daughter had shoulder bruises.